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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wheels that are equipped with decorative overlays. More specifically, the present invention relates to a composite automobile wheel having a trim ring and a wheel cover attached to the wheel in an overlapping relationship, where the overlapping relationship permits a continuous bright appearance across the entire outboard surface of the wheel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wheel ornamentation and decorative overlays are widely used to enhance the aesthetic appearance of automobile wheels. Decorative overlays are used to improve the appearance of unadorned standard steel wheels and they are also used with cast aluminum wheels that are known to be expensive and difficult to plate with chromium. Examples of this technology include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,597,213 and 5,636,906 owned by the common assignee hereof.
In general, there are several requirements for composite wheel assemblies. For example, it is important that the composite wheel assembly be capable of receiving a standard clip-on balance weight at a rim flange thereof. In addition, the composite wheel assembly should also be durable so that it will not rust or corrode. Further, it is generally desirable that any wheel ornamentation closely follow the contours of the entire outboard surface of the underlying wheel, so as to provide the visible impression that the wheel itself is chrome finished. Finally, it is desirable that the composite wheel assembly construction be as insensitive to radial dimensional tolerance stack up between the overlay and the underlying wheel, across the outboard surface of the wheel to avoid any degradation of aesthetic characteristics. In other words, it is not desirable to be required to maintain a tight tolerance between an overlay and the wheel across the outboard surface of the wheel from an outer radial surface of a rim flange to a central locating feature on a disc or web portion of the wheel. Also it is costly to have to maintain a tight tolerance between mating elements from a central locating feature of the overlay that locates on the central locating feature of the wheel to a radially outermost portion of the overlay that engages or mounts on the rim flange of the wheel.
The prior art has disclosed various trim rings and wheel covers for concealing portions of an outboard surface of a wheel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,158,125 to Horn et al. discloses a vehicle wheel having novel means for attaching a cover to the wheel. The cover includes a plurality of spaced axially extending projections located at a radially outermost periphery that is substantially equal in diameter to the periphery of the wheel. The integral projections at the periphery of the cover are bent over the edge of the wheel rim for rigidly connecting the cover thereto. A hubcap snaps into a large central opening of the wheel cover and is held thereto by a spring element such that the hubcap is piloted within an inner diameter of the wheel cover to conceal the center of the wheel. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 2,447,021 to Lyon discloses a cover member for a vehicle wheel that conceals a rim flange of the wheel. The cover member overlies an outer side of the rim flange and extends radially outwardly over an edge portion thereof. The cover member includes a flange at an outer part thereof that is disposed to abut an adjacent portion of a sidewall of a tire that is mounted to the rim flange. The flange includes a terminal portion that is disposed axially of the wheel to overlie the radially outer side of the tire rim. Specifically, the cover member has an outer peripheral edge and a reinforcing bead that combine to positively engage the rim flange therebetween. Accordingly, the cover member interlocks with the rim flange in a snap-on relationship. Additionally, a hubcap attaches to the wheel and abuts an inner diameter portion of the trim ring. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,639 to Lyon discloses a composite wheel assembly having wheel cover structure with a circular radially outer U-shaped ring that opens axially inwardly toward and mounts to a lip flange of a rim flange of the wheel using stiff fingers that firmly interengage the lip flange to hold the ring thereto. An outer portion of a central hubcap abuts an inner diameter of the ring to afford full coverage of the wheel.
Unfortunately, however, the three above listed prior art references have several drawbacks. First, none of the references include wheel ornamentation that closely follows the contour of the underlying wheel. Second, it is not possible to attach standard wheel balance weights over the trim ring and rim flange of the wheel, as is presently known in the art. It is impossible to attach a standard balance weight since the trim ring does not closely follow the contour of the rim flange and is substantially offset therefrom. Finally, none of the references teach or disclose a combination of a trim ring and cladding in an overlapping relationship that is capable of taking up radial dimensional tolerance variations across the face of the wheel. Therefore, the abutting surfaces of the different elements will have varying spaces between abutting surfaces resulting in detrimental aesthetic effects.
More recent examples of composite wheel assemblies having overlays attached to an underlying wheel include U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,566 to Beith, U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,276 to Spisak, U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,423 to Heck et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,791 to Chase, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,634 to Eikhoff. Chase teaches use of a plastic overlay for covering a wheel that extends radially outwardly toxe2x80x94but not coveringxe2x80x94a flange lip of the rim flange of the wheel, so that a standard balance weight may be attached to the rim flange of the wheel. The plastic overlay cannot extend beyond or cover the flange lip of the rim flange of the wheel since the thickness of the overlay in addition to the thickness of the rim flange makes it impossible to attach a standard weight thereto. Accordingly, it is evident that the plastic overlay covers only most of the outboard surface of the wheel and a portion of the rim flange but does not cover the flange lip. The exposed flange lip circumscribing the periphery of the overlay is a clear manifestation that the wheel is cladded and not finished directly with chrome plating, thus resulting in detrimental aesthetic effects as perceived by an automobile purchaser.
In contrast, Heck et al. disclose the use of a stainless steel overlay that covers at least a portion of the outboard facing wheel surface including the flange lip of the rim flange. The overlay is preferably formed from stainless steel and adhesively attached to the wheel with an appropriate decorative surface on the outboard side of the overlay. This adhesive is applied on the outboard surface of the disc in a predetermined pattern, so that when the wheel cover is installed on the disc a smearing of the adhesive occurs over substantially the entire outboard surface of the disc. Since the adhesive covers substantially the entire interface between the wheel cover and the disc, it is effective to provide a seal and prevent water, mud, salt and other debris from entering between the wheel cover and the outboard surface of the wheel disc. At the outer peripheral edge of the rim flange is a smooth, rounded outer peripheral end and along the inboard side thereof is a circumferential, radially outwardly facing groove. The peripheral end and the groove are both formed by machining operations to a predetermined specification. The groove is formed in the inboard surface of the rim flange. The outer peripheral end portion of the wheel cover is assembled to the smooth, rounded outer peripheral end of the wheel by rolling the edge of the stainless cover over the rim flange into the radially outwardly facing groove. This technology, however, like the prior art above, has several problems.
At least one unique problem is evident in Heck et al. ""423. For example, in assembling the cover to the wheel, it is clear that overbend is required to accommodate the natural springback of the end of the stainless wheel cover so as to obtain proper retention within the groove. This overbend results in frictional engagement of the outer peripheral edge of the wheel cover with the smooth, rounded outer peripheral end of the wheel. This frictional engagement results in the removal of any form of protective coatings that may be on the wheel. Removal of the protective coating causes the wheel material to be in direct contact with the stainless overlay. Accordingly, detrimental galvanic action between the stainless steel cover and the rim flange will occur over time, thereby resulting in the appearance of rust deposits on or corrosion of the rim flange. Furthermore, over a period of time, if the edge of the cover works its way out of the groove as a result of harsh vehicle turns, curb bumps, etc., the rubber tire will be exposed to this sharp edge and may result in tire damage.
Eikhoff includes much of the same teachings as Heck et al., but adds an annular locking shoulder on an outer portion of an applique or wheel cover. The annular locking shoulder interlocks behind an annular rim catch on the inner radial side of a rim flange to hold the wheel cover in place while an adhesive cures.
Similarly, Beith teaches the use of a wheel like the wheels commonly provided by manufacturers of vehicles, which is altered to create the deep recess design effect characteristic of an authentic mag wheel structure. In order to create this effect, the wheel""s center 14 is joined to the tire mounting rim 21 with its outboard surface 22 facing in the direction relative to the rim 21, which is the reverse of that of a normally constructed wheel provided by the manufacturers of vehicles. The flange members 19 are secured by rivets 23 to an axially extending base flange 24 of the tire mounting rim 21 with the outboard surface 22 of the wheel center 14 facing, as represented by arrow 26 of FIG. 3, toward the conventional inboard side of the tire mounting rim 21.
Consequently, when the wheel center 14 and the tire mounting rim 21 of a commonly provided wheel 13 are joined together in this fashion, the outboard surface of the wheel center 14 is axially displaced from the terminal flange 29 a greater distance than when they are joined together in the normal manner in order to create the deep recess effect. This non-conventional wheel is covered by a wheel cover 12 of a xe2x80x9cslottedxe2x80x9d type, which is created by contrasting dark and light surface areas 31 and 32. This is accomplished by cutting out the dark surface areas 31 while leaving the light surface areas 32 as shown on both embodiments in the reference. The cover may be constructed of steel, aluminum, plastic, or any suitable material, which is sufficiently strong to withstand the harsh usage. The light surface areas 32 are provided by polishing or chrome plating the areas 32 while the areas 31 would be painted black to form the dark surface areas. The steel wheel cover has an outboard surface 33 with a concavely contoured shape. More specifically, the cover has a radially and axially outward and concavely curving disc center 34 which defines a central hub opening 36 registered with the hub opening 16 of the disc wheel center 14. The disc center 34 also has a plurality of circularly spaced lug apertures 37 registered with the lug bolt apertures 17 of the wheel disc center 14. The multiple flanged portion 40 is terminated at its terminal flange 42 with a lip 43 circumferentially extending about the entire periphery of the wheel cover 12. The lip 43 is formed to grip the edge of the terminal flange 29 of the multi-flange tire mounting rim 21 and, thereby, aid in fixing the wheel cover 12 to the wheel. In limited areas, an adhesive is used to bind the wheel cover 12 to the wheel 13. Alternatively, the cover can also be welded to the wheel. Beith clearly teaches that the authentically appearing and sounding wheel structure 11 can be obtained without placing adhesive therebetween. Further, additional lips 49 and 51 are provided about the peripheries of the central hub opening 36 and each of the lug apertures 37 of the wheel cover 12. Also, Beith teaches that the opening 16 and apertures 17 for the lug bolts may have to be over-sized when the additional lips 49 and 51 are provided. The lips 49 and 51 grip respectively the edges of the hub opening 16 and each lug bolt aperture 17 of the wheel and thereby further aid in fixing the wheel cover to the wheel. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 through 6, the entire area of the confronting surfaces 63 and 64 are bonded together in order to provide an imitation mag wheel structure that appears to be most authentic. In such embodiment, again, lips 49 and 51 are provided to grip the peripheries of the hub opening 61 and each lug bolt aperture 62 of the wheel 13xe2x80x2 to aid in fixing the wheel cover 12 to the wheel 13xe2x80x2.
Both Eikoff and Beith have several drawbacks. First, these references are devoid of teachings or disclosure that is directed to xe2x80x9ctake upxe2x80x9d of radial dimensional tolerance variation in the overlay components across the face of the wheel. Second, the overlays involve using relatively expensive and heavy stainless steel material to cover the entire face of the wheel. Finally, since one continuous overlay is used, a two-tone chrome ring and painted cladding appearance is not possible.
Spisak discloses a wheel trim assembly for a wheel rim and disc having a plastic ornamental wheel cover attached to the rim and disc. A stainless steel trim ring having tabs extending therefrom mounts to the plastic ornamental wheel cover, wherein the tabs interlock with grooves in the plastic wheel cover. The trim ring extends radially outwardly to conceal a rim flange of the wheel. The trim ring of Spisak does not, however, closely conform to the rim flange of the wheel and therefore does not provide the visible impression that the wheel itself is chrome plated, but rather that the wheel is covered by a chrome plated trim ring.
Accordingly, what is needed is a low cost, low weight trim ring and wheel cover combination for an automobile wheel that is capable of taking up dimensional tolerance variations in the trim ring and wheel cover across the face of the wheel. As a result, styling and design flexibility would be enhanced because the overlay and trim ring would be capable of closely conforming to the contours of the wheel across the entire wheel surface, from a central locating feature to a flange lip of the rim flange. What is also needed is a trim ring and cladding combination that makes it possible to incorporate a plastic cladding for providing an attractive continuous bright appearance across the entire surface of the wheel, while still accommodating the attachment of standard wheel weights over the trim ring and rim flange of the wheel.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a composite wheel assembly including a wheel having a trim ring and cladding assembled to the wheel. The wheel includes a disc and a rim circumscribing the disc and defining the wheel""s central axis, wherein the disc and portions of the rim define an outboard surface of the wheel. The rim""s radially outer periphery (or the disc""s radially outer periphery in the case of a full face wheel) is defined by a rim flange. The rim flange includes an axially outboard surface, a radially inner surface, a flange lip, and a radially outer surface opposite the radially inner surface.
The trim ring is mounted to the rim flange of the wheel to cover a portion of the outboard surface of the wheel and includes a flange portion covering the axially outboard surface of the rim flange of the wheel. The trim ring further includes a lip portion extending from the flange portion, wherein the lip portion is positioned over the flange lip of the rim flange of the wheel, thereby substantially conforming to a portion of the outboard surface of the wheel. The lip portion includes a radially inner wall covering the radially inner surface of the rim flange, and further includes a radially outer wall opposite the radially inner wall and that covers the radially outer surface of the rim flange of the wheel, and also includes an axially outboard wall between the radially inner and outer walls and that covers the flange lip of the rim flange of the wheel, such that the trim ring covers at least a portion of the axially outboard surface of the wheel so as to provide a visible impression that the trim ring is actually a portion of the outboard surface of the wheel and not a separately attached component. The trim ring is preferably secured to the wheel with a thin layer of adhesive therebetween.
The cladding overlies a portion of the outboard surface of the wheel, and includes an inboard surface facing a portion of the outboard surface of the wheel. The cladding is initially secured to the wheel with either a temporary or permanent mechanical interlock that includes a temporary curing cap or permanent snap tabs extending from the cladding and interlocking into an annular detent in the disc of the wheel. The cladding is permanently secured to the wheel with an adhesive disposed therebetween. Accordingly, a portion of the cladding overlaps a portion of the trim ring so that any radial dimensional variation in the trim ring and cladding is taken up by the overlap and so as to provide a continuous bright appearance across the complete outboard surface of the wheel.
Additional embodiments of the present invention include various alternatives. For example, interlocking features on the trim ring and flange lip of the wheel may be provided to assist in retaining the trim ring to the wheel. A wheel weight bead may be provided on the lip portion of the trim ring to assist in retaining a wheel weight thereto. Further, the trim ring can overlap the cladding, such that the cladding is assembled to the wheel before the trim ring, or the cladding and trim ring are as a unit assembled to the outboard surface of the wheel.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to use a plastic cladding in conjunction with a metal trim ring to cover the outboard surface of a wheel wherein standard balance weights can be attached over the trim ring and flange lip of the wheel.
It is another object to provide a composite wheel assembly that does not rust or corrode as a result of a wheel cover having scraped a wheel at a rim flange thereof during assembly of the wheel cover.
It is still another object to provide a composite wheel assembly that provides a continuous bright finish appearance across the entire face of the wheel without the expense of actually chrome plating the wheel itself and without having to extend a plastic cladding over the flange lip of the wheel.
It is a further object to provide a composite wheel assembly having multiple wheel coverings that overlap each other so as to take up the radial tolerances of each wheel covering.
It is a still a further object to provide a low cost, easy to manufacture wheel covering arrangement for a composite wheel assembly that provides aesthetic design flexibility, where a chromed plastic cladding is used with a surface treated trim ring such as chromed or anodized, a painted plastic cladding is used with a chromed or anodized trim ring, or vice versa.
These objects and other features, aspects, and advantages of this invention will be more apparent after a reading of the following detailed description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.